June 1 (Bloomberg) -- With 32 of a possible 63 titles
between them, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are the
most successful franchises in National Basketball Association
history. They’re also a boon to television ratings.

When the Lakers and Celtics meet for another championship
in this year’s NBA Finals starting in two days, Walt Disney
Co.’s ABC may emerge a winner.

“This is best matchup ABC could have possibly hoped for,”
Brad Adgate, research director at Horizon Media, a New York-based advertising company, said in a telephone interview. “It’s
a classic rivalry -- cross-country, major markets and two teams
loaded with history.”

The Lakers won their 15th NBA championship last season,
while the Celtics won their 17th title two years ago.

Boston’s six-game win over the Lakers after the 2007-08
season yielded the highest television ratings for the NBA Finals
in the past five years. It was the most recent championship-round meeting in one of sports’ most celebrated rivalries, which
featured Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the 1980s.

The 1987 championship series, the third showdown in four
years between Johnson’s Lakers and Bird’s Celtics, was watched
in 16.7 percent of U.S. homes, according to Nielsen Media
Research. It was the highest-rated NBA finals that didn’t
include Michael Jordan since Nielsen began keeping records in
1974.

“These teams have national followings and leaguewide
followings,” said Phil de Picciotto, president of Athletes &
Personalities at the Los Angeles-based marketing and
representation firm Octagon. “Anybody who’s a basketball fan
appreciates what the Lakers and Celtics stand for.”

‘Made a Living’

Former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson, who used to sit
alongside Boston President Red Auerbach during the NBA Finals,
said his network “made a living” on the Celtics and Lakers.
Pilson expects more ratings success this season.

“There’s every indicator from size of markets, to quality
of the matchup, to the athletes themselves, to the history and
tradition,” said Pilson, president of Pilson Communications,
Inc., in Chappaqua, New York. “This definitely is a great
matchup for the NBA and the networks.”

The teams met in the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s,
featuring Hall of Famers such as Bill Russell and Bob Cousy for
Boston and Jerry West and Elgin Baylor for Los Angeles. Wilt
Chamberlain played for the Lakers in the 1969 Finals.

Kareem in Series

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s career scoring leader with
38,387 points, helped lead the Lakers to NBA Finals victories
against the Celtics in 1985 and 1987.

Los Angeles is the second-largest media market in the U.S.
behind New York, and Boston is seventh.

The Lakers are led by former Most Valuable Player Kobe
Bryant, who has averaged 29.4 points in 16 games this
postseason. The Celtics are paced by a quartet of All-Stars in
Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo.

“Boston and L.A. -- wake up the echoes,” Pilson said in a
telephone interview. “This is classic. The only thing that
could spoil this matchup right now are blowout games or a four-game sweep. But it seems unlikely.”

The teams split their two regular-season meetings, with
each winning by one point on the road.

Los Angeles is a 5 1/2-point favorite for Game 1 of the
best-of-seven championship series on June 3 at the Staples
Center. Game 2 will also be played in Los Angeles, on June 6,
before the series shifts to Boston for the next three games.

Jackson Seeking Revenge

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who has 10 NBA titles, said the
loss to the Celtics two years ago still stings.

During the offseason, after Los Angeles beat the Orlando
Magic for the NBA title, Jackson said he ran into Pierce at his
daughter’s housing complex in Los Angeles and made it known he
wanted a championship rematch.

“I said, ‘Get it back, we want to meet you in the
finals,’” Jackson said after beating Phoenix in the Western
Conference finals. “So here it is almost a year later. We have
this opportunity, both of us, to renew this rivalry.”

Since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis in
1960, they’ve faced the Celtics 10 times in the NBA Finals. Nine
of those championship series were decided in more than five
games, with four going to a seventh game.

“You’ve got great star power and great tradition,” said
Horizon Media’s Adgate. “The only other thing that ABC could
possibly hope for is that the series goes seven games.”